Daniel E- Learning about Paper Making History

   Greetings to all history buffs and/or other people just interested in the paper process through the years! This is the first post, explaining what you can expect to learn from my website.     I will be going over 5 major examples and shifting points on the topic of paper and printing. You can expect to find a post about:      -Papyrus in Egypt      -Paper in China      -Parchment in Europe (Pergamum, Ancient Greece)      -Paper Adoption/usage in the Islamic World      -Gutenberg Printing Press    Each of these examples will have a paragraph to familiarize yourself with the invention, another paragraph right after to understand the application and impact this example had on people today, and a picture of what you may expect to see in the middle of the process of creating the final product.     After getting a good idea of the 5 important ideas on the topic, ther...

  -First, let's go all the way back to the mid-Neolithic era, where early modern humans started settling around the Nile, in Egypt.  1.   Papyrus – Egypt, Discovered/used from 6000BC-640CE: The name for paper in English comes from papyrus, which was a plant that grew along the Nile and Delta in Egypt in especially large numbers during Egypt’s old, middle and new Kingdom ages, and even up to Roman Egypt times. Besides being used for various other items like rope or boxes, strips of the plants’ stems were laid out in a criss-cross formation, resin was dripped between layers, and the entire structure was pressed, to give the Egyptians a writing surface to record information easier for the first time. However, even with a new way to transport written data, papyrus was still only used mainly for religious texts and to record important government transactions/information. It was largely unobtainable to the rest of the common population as the cost to make a significant amount o...

  -Now, we move to Ancient Greece, the founder of many theories and ideas used in Western Civilizations now. But, did you know they also had a hand in the development of a modern writing surface in Europe? 2.    Parchment – Ancient Greece, invented around 200BC: Parchment can be thought of as a “next step” towards Europe’s progression into a more refined writing surface, and it consists of treated animal skin (suspending animal skin, soaking it in lime, stretching it on a frame and shaving it) being used to create pages of books and other places to write on. Initially, parchment was extremely expensive, even more so than papyrus, so for its first few centuries of history, it was seldom used by the average person. However, as time went on, demand grew as the product became cheaper, but of poorer quality. Eventually, at around 1200CE, Parchment was at its peak usage, until paper came to Europe. (Editors of Britannica) Despite the fact that parchment stands the test of time ...

  -Now, we will talk about the true birthplace of paper, in China under the Han Dynasty. 3.   Paper – China, invented around 200BC, refined up to 1200CE: Paper was initially an accidental invention, much like many other notable inventions like gunpowder. However, its practicality was immediately noticed and soon after, in 105CE, a more refined version of the “paper prototype” was invented. The production method was somewhat similar to papyrus, using fibers and soaking then pressing them into a frame to provide shape. However, paper came with more benefits; it was durable, easier to make, and quickly became a revolution nationally, and later, a prized commodity around the world. Yet, before that, it went through many further stages of refinement, one notable one being around 200CE where after more testing of what other fibers would work, a higher quality product was discovered. This stage recurred a few more times, one at around 800CE where the fibers used were from bamboo, and...

  -For the final post on the advancements of writing surfaces, we turn to the Middle East and their interpretations and modifications on paper, that they discovered from China. 4. Paper – Middle East, discovered around 700CE: The conversion from other writing surfaces to paper in the Arabic regions of the world gave even more pronounced benefits than was seen in China, with costs dropping dramatically compared to past inventions (papyrus, parchment), and a very noticeable shift to a more literate and educated population. In fact, this new level of education and knowledge bestowed to the working class explains why Middle Eastern families, on average, had better standards of living than other civilizations (e.g. Byzantium). This also meant that the Arab population was more efficient and productive than most other civilizations, at that time. Finally, the ability to make many more sheets of paper than they would be able to if they used papyrus/parchment meant that they could spread th...

  -The final invention that is discussed is the revolutionary Gutenberg Printing Press, the machine that brought movable type printing to Europe, over traditional block printing used in many places at that time. 5. Gutenberg Printing Press – Mainz, Germany, invented from 1440-1450CE: While the idea of a printing press wasn’t necessarily originally from Gutenberg, but rather from other names in China, he is credited with creating the most advanced system of mass production (for its time) of print to Europe. In order to create it, he had to cast letters in reverse and create a hybrid-material frame, and this is one of the many notable “signatures” of his machine; its incorporation of metal, compared to previous printing machinery being fully wooden. Another important idea is his addition of a mechanism to flatten the paper in his design of the entire press. Soon after creating the machine, he went on to prove its superiority over writing books by hand by printing over a hundred copie...

  -Even though the 5 inventions listed happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago, they still hold relation to some products we enjoy to this day. An example is highlighted below. As a modern North American society, we all still use paper, which was explained as an invention in China and (later) discovery in the Middle East. The only difference between all of that time and contrasting cultures is that we use different plant fibers in order to create paper, due to geological location. As an example, we cannot still have most of our paper be created from bamboo fibers, because that plant isn’t native to North America, so we have to adapt. We don’t necessarily use only one type of plant to create the cellulose fibers needed to give the paper its structure, but we usually don’t use the same kinds as the Middle East or China did. As for printing, the differences widen greatly, as we don’t use a similar structure to the Gutenberg printing press anymore. Nowadays, there are more and...

  (World Map - Political) 1. Papyrus: Along the Nile/Delta of Egypt 2. Parchment: Ancient city of Pergamum in Present-day Turkey 3. Paper: China, invented during the Han Dynasty, refined up to Tan Dynasty 4. Paper development/use: City of Baghdad, Umayyad Caliphate 5. Gutenberg Printing Press: Mainz, Germany

                                                                                                                          Works Cited Andrews, Evan. “7 Things You May Not Know About the Gutenberg Bible.” History.com, A&E   Television Networks, 23 Feb.      2015, www.history.com/news/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-gutenberg-bible.  -Used for getting a picture as reference to my model Cartwright, Mark. “Paper in Ancient China.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 14 Nov. 2020,      www.ancient.eu/article/1120/paper-in-ancient-china/.  -Used for getting info a...